“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1)

Many years ago, I was involved in a relationship with a young woman whom I loved very much. We were both young at that time those many years ago, yet in that one particular relationship, it became strained to the point where she would become weary, not because of her not loving me in her heart, but because I walked on eggshells around her. During this period of courting (dating) there was not a time where I didn’t either ask her to forgive me even though I had never done anything wrong, or I would often say “I’m sorry” when with her, not realizing that there was nothing to be sorry for. The insecurity and lack of understanding that she already loved and cared for me seemed to be as foreign to me as a snowman in south Florida. The fact was, I walked on eggshells around this young woman to the point where she eventually left, not because she didn’t love me, but she simply could not make me see that it was not possible to have a relationship with someone who simply could not handle being with someone because they themselves would not nor could not accept the fact that they were loved completely, with faults and failures, I could not see what I was doing until it was too late.

How much more do we do this exact same thing with God in our walk with him?

The word says in Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Notice what Paul says about the believer? No condemnation. That means when we sin, when we fail, when we stumble (and we will at times in our walk) God never, ever condemns – why? Because we are justified by our faith in Christ and what he did for us on the cross. Yet so many times the believer walked in this life before God on eggshells, worried about something they might have done, said or thought which might not have been pleasing to the Lord, yet constantly lives in direct fear that they are going to be punished by the Lord. Friend, that’s not a proper relationship with God, that’s fear, and seeing how God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of love, power and a sound mind, the only one whose bringing guilt and condemnation is Satan. He is the author of guilt. Not God. Never forget that.

Some might say “But I have to constantly repent every day” really? Is that Biblical? Let’s go to the word over this matter. In Colossians 1:21-23 Paul says “And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach– if indeed you continue in the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, was made a minister.” Here is what Paul is saying, before Christ, we are separated from God due to sin, however, when we come to Christ, repented of our sins and believing upon him for what Christ did on the cross, something happens, something wonderful begins to occur – we become a new creation, the old things (sinful state) is gone, long forgotten and never to be remembered again (2 Cor. 5:17). What happens? Paul says that at that point the believer is now 1. Holy. 2. Blameless. and 3. Beyond reproach. What does that mean? It means that God no longer sees us as we once were, why? Because we’re holy, blameless and beyond reproach. This means that God accepts us as one of his own, all because of the atoning work Christ did for us on the cross. Christtook our place, he took our guilt and sinful stain, he took our justified penalty that we were rightfully due us, and instead he presents us before God completely free from the condemnation of the law of sin and death! So why are we walking on eggshells with God every time we make a mistake or worried that we have failed the Lord? Because Satan has made us forget this very important truth he does not want us to know, that when we are in Christ, everything (our sins) have been forgiven, past, present and future! That is the truth Satan does not want us to know, why? Because he wants us to constantly walk a defeated life, worried that we have done something today or yesterday that God is going to punish us for, but he’s a liar!

Does this mean we never repent when we do wrong at times? God forbid – no! However, 1 John 1:8 gives us one of the greatest truths we need to remember, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” John makes it clear, God’s mercy, his grace and his desire is to forgive – God wants to forgive us each and every time we stumble in our walk, because of his great love. How many times does God forgive us when we sin? When we fail along the way? Jesus answered this in Matthew 18:22 “Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.” The rendering of this verse literally means infinity! God’s willingness to forgive us has absolutely no end.

Here are the facts. 1. We are saved by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8). 2. There is nothing we can do on our own part to further that grace, for it cannot be done through works (Ephesians 2:9). 3. Repentance, while good when we are convicted of something we’ve done by the Holy Spirit, will sometimes not occur in our day to day walk. The fact is, we do things almost daily and throughout the day which should be repented of but is forgotten, does this disqualify us from salvation? Absolutely not! Why? Because if we had to repent every 5 minutes, or at the end of the day, then are we walking by faith or by works? This is why many fail to understand what justification by faith means – it means that when our faith is in Christ, secured in that working knowledge that it is not anything we could do or can do, we are saved in the faith because of the working grace Christ gives us daily thru the cross.

Religion says man has to work his way to God. Justification says man is saved as a result of grace through faith. This means that no matter what the believer may do, even though that person might fail at some point in their walk, their rightful place in the faith has been met because of justification, they are redeemed, not because of works, but because they have placed their complete trust in what Christ did on the cross, that alone promises salvation. For a Christian, justification is the act of God not only forgiving the believer’s sins but imputing to him the righteousness of Christ. The Bible states in several places that justification only comes through faith alone (e.g., Romans 5:1; Galatians 3:24). Justification is not earned through our own works; rather, we are covered by the righteousness of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8; Titus 3:5). The Christian, being declared righteous, is thus freed from the guilt of sin.

So do we continue to walk on eggshells with God? No. Do we continue to sin because we are justified? No, we do not. Yet because we are in the flesh, and because we are not perfected yet, sin will occur at some point in our life. Why? Because we are not yet or have not yet been glorified. Until then, we crucify ourselves daily, crucifying the flesh and walking by faith knowing that Christ has already done the work for us on the cross, yet understanding that our hearts must constantly be led by the spirit in every manner of conduct and behavior. Again, not a license to sin, but an understanding that when we do sin, when we do struggle in areas of weakness, we can go before the throne, asking the Lord to forgive us and trusting in what he did on the cross that it’s already been forgiven. Yet, what about those times where someone who might have done wrong, messed up, said something that they would regret later and maybe, God forbid, died during the day? Justification by faith.

Human logic, mixed with religious jealousy would tell us that it would seem impossible that God would accept someone who died while in the middle of sin, or failed at the last minute of something that they might have done wrong and not had time to repent. But grace covers a multitude of sins, and while it’s not up to us to understand how or why, thank God that he intercedes for us daily, knowing that we are saved not by continuing to having to do something, but that it was all paid for on the cross. That is why walking on eggshells with God never works, because it presents not a trust in God, but a relationship of fear, doubt and worry. Would a man married to his wife continue to have a lasting marriage with his spouse if he continued to say “I’m sorry” over and over and over throughout the day? Chances are they would end up in divorce court before the year was out, why? Not because the wife didn’t love him, but because he failed to trust his marriage with his wife and the vows they took. Same principle with God, if we fail to trust him (by faith) then how can we serve him? We can’t. And sooner or later that distrust, that lack of faith will be fodder for the enemy to use to bring discord with the believer and before they know it, that relationship will end up in spiritual disaster.

Don’t walk on eggshells with God, instead, walk in the liberty and trust God has given you because of the atoning work Christ paid for us on the cross, that is the only type of pure faith God will ever accept out of us, to trust him completely knowing that our sins have been forgiven and that we are secure in him as long as we maintain that trust and yielded faith in Christ and his work on the cross.